Originally posted by tvfd911 I hate leaches.
So did I until I got bitten by some. Other than being somewhat disgusting, they're really not that bad. I was lucky the first time in that I got bitten and the leech dropped off and was gone before I even noticed it. There's no pain involved and if it hadn't been for the blood on my pants leg I probably never would have known at all. Later on it itched a bit, but not as bad as a mosquito bite.
The second time came a week later in the same area up in the mountains when I wanted to get into a good position to do a close shot of a waterfall. I had to wade across a small river so I could climb up some rocks on the other side. I rolled up my pants legs, took off my socks, put my shoes back on and started across. When I got into position I noticed one leech on my ankle and easily removed it. I found another one on top of my foot, right under the tongue of my shoe but decided to leave it alone until I got done. After all, the damage was done and it wasn't like I was going to bleed to death from it.
The big surprise came when I retrieved my socks and found one clinging to each of them....they're amazingly hard to remove from socks, by the way. Even banging the socks repeatedly against a tree had no effect.
I suspected there were leeches in the area from having been bitten that one time before, but it was confirmed for me before I decided to cross the river. My Croc-wearing teenaged daughter alerted me to their presence in no uncertain terms, having discovered two lunching on her ankles. Funny thing.....she won't go with me to the mountains anymore. And any thoughts I may have once entertained about her possibly enjoying wading into the rivers as I do have entire dissipated. Based on our limited experience we are of the opinion that while the leeches themselves go away, the marks of their bites do not.
So prior to having been bitten, I would have avoided any place I knew had leeches. But having experienced leeches now, I wouldn't let the presence of a
few of them deter me from going after a photo. The prospect of a couple or three leeches doesn't bother me. The thought of looking down and finding any more than that is still horrifying, though. That would have to be one hell of a photo op for me to risk more than a very few bites. Fortunately, appropriate footwear and precautions to avoid exposed skin can easily defeat the little bastards.